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Dirt Femme is the fifth studio album by Swedish singer Tove Lo. It was independently released by her label Pretty Swede Records on 14 October 2022.[2]

Dirt Femme
Studio album by Tove Lo
Released	14 October 2022 (2022-10-14)
Genre	Dance-pop[1]
Length	39:47
Label	Pretty Swede mtheory
Producer	Elvira SG Lewis OzGo Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Ali Payami A Strut TimFromTheHouse
Tove Lo chronology
Sunshine Kitty (2019) Dirt Femme (2022)
Singles from Dirt Femme
"How Long" Released: 26 January 2022 "No One Dies from Love" Released: 4 May 2022 "True Romance" Released: 21 June 2022 "2 Die 4" Released: 27 July 2022 "Grapefruit" Released: 12 October 2022 "Call On Me" Released: 14 October 2022

Background

Tove Lo released her fourth studio album, Sunshine Kitty, in September 2019. It received positive reviews from contemporary music critics and had a moderate commercial performance. In May of the following year, after touring across Europe and North and South America, the singer reissued the album with the subtitle Paw Prints Edition, including four additional songs and four remixes.[3] Two years after Sunshine Kitty, Lo started teasing via social media the release of a fifth album; by September 2021, the record was "taking shape".[4] Earlier that year, in April, fellow singer Charli XCX revealed she worked with Lo in "making the best music ever" in Palm Springs, California.[4] The two previously collaborated on "Out of My Head", from XCX's 2017 mixtape Pop 2, as well as on the 2018 remix of "Bitches" from Lo's 2017 album Blue Lips.

In May 2022, Lo announced Pretty Swede Records, her own record label under artist development company Mtheory.[5] Being independently released, Dirt Femme marks the first time Lo had complete creative control over an album's development process. Although she recognizes the importance of her former contract with the Universal Music Group, which was "crucial" for her to breakthrough worldwide, Lo "like[s] to make these intricate stories that don't help the algorithm and maybe aren't the most commercial way to do pop releases and how you put out pop music".[6] The album's making was compared by the singer to a "emotional bungee jump" because its development process was the first since her debut, Queen of the Clouds, to not happen in between touring. "This almost felt like I was back to starting completely new again", she accounted.[5]

Promotion

Lo's first solo effort in almost two years and Dirt Femme's lead single, "How Long" was released on 26 January 2022 as part of the soundtrack from American television series Euphoria.[7] The song was also featured on the fourth episode of the series' second season, "You Who Cannot See, Think of Those Who Can".[8] An accompanying music video directed by Seattle filmmaking duo Kenten premiered on 10 February.[9] Alongside the announcement of Pretty Swede Records' founding on 3 May 2022, Lo issued "No One Dies from Love" as the album's following single and the first material released under the newly founded imprint.[10][11] The song's music video premiered the same day[12] and was directed by Brazilian duo Alaska Filmes, with whom Lo previously worked with on "Are U Gonna Tell Her?".[13] That day, the singer also announced a concert tour, scheduled to start on 29 October and visit Europe and the United Kingdom.[11] On 21 June 2022, Lo officially revealed the album's title to be Dirt Femme, as well as its track listing, artwork and release date of 14 October.[5] The same day, she released the record's third single, "True Romance".[5] The fourth single, "2 Die 4", was released on 27 July.[14][15]

Artwork

In the album's artwork, Lo wears a metallic, robotic scorpion stinger—a reference to her astrological sign, Scorpio—attached to her back while her vagina-inspired logo lies on the side of her hip.[6] According to the singer, her use of scorpion-related imagery reflects the album's approach of femininity: "I just love the fact that the female scorpion eats the male scorpion after mating. I’m in a very lovely relationship now where we have a good balance of crazy between us. But I get told that I draw people in and I consume them".[6]

Composition

In a June 2022 interview with Rolling Stone, Lo stated that her fifth album would "be a very beautiful visual and sonical [sic] journey" and that she created a "new world" for it.[6] Describing the record's lyrics as "extremely personal", she highlighted their inquisitive nature: "It's all my feelings, thoughts and questions put together in under 50 minutes with no answers". The result is a body of work encompassed by songs that "will contradict each other, will probably upset some of you, will make you want to dance, cry, fuck, and drive your car really, really, fast".[16] The album's inspiration came from a moment of introspection during the COVID-19 pandemic as she reflected upon her 10-year career, her femininity and her pansexuality in the midst of her marriage to Charlie Twaddle. She stated: "I'm bringing up all these questions and feelings and emotions that don't necessarily have answers to them. It’s just more my current place of wonder".[6] Lo further explained:

"When I started out as a writer and an artist, I used to view my feminine traits as weaker and would enhance my masculine traits to get ahead in life. I feel a big energy shift in my environment since then and this album reflects the various ways my feminine side has both helped and hurt me. I’m a pansexual woman married to a straight man. I believe masculine and feminine lives on a spectrum in all humans. There are so many more interesting nuances than most people want to accept."[16]

Lyrics of "Suburbia" address "never wanting marriage, not wanting children, and not feeling like that's a life that I want" and were inspired by the fact that some people get offended by Lo's indifference towards having children of her own.[6] "2 Die 4" samples Swedish character Crazy Frog's 2005 cover of Gershon Kingsley's 1969 song "Popcorn"; it was described as a "nostalgic wet dream" by Rolling Stone's writer Tomás Mier.[6] Lo stated that "True Romance" was recorded in a single take and was "really fun" to make due to its more "dramatic" and narrative tone in comparison to most of her works.[6] Inspired by Tony Scott's 1993 film of the same name, "True Romance" is a love song that uses the film's plot to introduce a new story, "one of the most destructive, beautiful, overdramatic spins-out-of-control love stories".[6] Since its lyrics are "very dirty" and play "over a really sexy beat", Lo described "Pineapple Slice" as a mix of "Disco Tits" and "Bitches", both included of her 2017 album Blue Lips.[6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.6/10[17]
Metacritic	77/100[18]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[19]
DIY	[20]
Gigwise	[21]
The Independent	[22]
The Line of Best Fit	9/10[23]
NME	[24]
Pitchfork	5.4/10[25]
Rolling Stone	[26]
The Skinny	[27]
Slant Magazine	[1]

Dirt Femme received positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 77 based on 14 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[18] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.4 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[17]

AllMusic's Heather Phares praised the album's musical direction, writing, "Lo is maturing but holding onto the most important parts of herself. Dirt Femme gives the confessional, sexual, and danceable sides of her music equal time and offers a fuller portrait of her music than we've heard before".[19] The Line of Best Fit writer Sam Franzini poined out that "confidence and unadulterated passion for being herself comes together on Dirt Femme, a much darker album than its predecessor Sunshine Kitty, but truer to Nilsson with its pulsating beats and slinky jams" and also described the album as "sexy, smart, and most importantly; fun"[23] Emma Swann of DIY writes that Dirt Femme sees Lo juxtapose elements ingeniously.[20] Gigwise writer Jordan White described the album as "hot-bodied" additionally stating that is "overtly camp and doesn't shy from its playful side".[21] NME's Nick Levine giving it four out of five stars, named the album as "spiky, surprising and not quite cohesive, but never ever boring."[24]

In a mixed review writing for The Skinny, Tara Hepburn identified this album as "pandemic baby" lamented that this project "is a mixed bag as the singer explores new paths for herself".[27] Thomas Bedenbaugh from Slant Magazine criticised the album because of its lack of the sing-along hooks that have made Lo's past efforts, especially 2016's Lady Wood, so memorable, while describing the album as "a collection of slightly melancholic, occasionally catchy dance-floor filler".[1] Pitchfork's Peyton Thomas dubbed the album "the first Tove Lo album you can play for your grandparents", claiming that she lost "a lot of her spark in the process" of pivoting to tamer themes and giving more lethargic performances.[25]

Track listing

Notes

• "2 Die 4" samples "Popcorn", composed by Gershon Kingsley.
• "Call on Me" contains elements of "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" by English band Dead or Alive from their second album Youthquake (1985).

Personnel

• Tove Lo – vocals
• Reuben Cohen – mastering engineer
• Chris Gehringer – mastering engineer
• Serban Ghenea – mixing engineer
• John Hanes – mixing engineer

Charts

Chart performance for Dirt Femme

Chart (2022)	Peak position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[28]	86
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[29]	167
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[30]	34
Irish Albums (IRMA)[31]	95
Lithuanian Albums (AGATA)[32]	41
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[33]	11
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[34]	59
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[35]	11
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[36]	50
UK Digital Albums (OCC)[37]	9
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[38]	50
US Billboard 200[39]	153
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[40]	24

Release history

Release dates and formats for Dirt Femme

Region	Date	Format	Label	Ref.
Various	14 October 2022	CD LP digital download streaming	Pretty Swede mtheory	[41][42][43]

Tour

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, and opening acts

Date	City	Country	Venue	Opening acts
Australia and New Zealand[44][45]
21 September 2022	Auckland	New Zealand	Powerstation	Foley
23 September 2022[lower-alpha 1]	Melbourne	Australia	Catani Gardens	n/a
25 September 2022[lower-alpha 2]	Perth		HBF Arena
28 September 2022	Melbourne		170 Russell	Memphis LK
29 September 2022	Sydney		Metro Theatre
1 October 2022[lower-alpha 3]			Centennial Park	n/a
2 October 2022[lower-alpha 4]	Brisbane		Brisbane Showground
Europe[11]
29 October 2022	Dublin	Ireland	3Olympia Theatre	Miya Folick
1 November 2022	Glasgow	Scotland	Galvanizers Yard
2 November 2022	Manchester	England	Manchester Academy
3 November 2022	Birmingham		O2 Institute
5 November 2022	London		Roundhouse
10 November 2022	Paris	France	Bataclan
12 November 2022	Luxembourg City	Luxembourg	den Atelier
13 November 2022	Amsterdam	Netherlands	Melkweg
15 November 2022	Berlin	Germany	Astra Kulturhaus
16 November 2022	Warsaw	Poland	Klub Stodola
18 November 2022	Kobenhavn	Denmark	Vega
19 November 2022	Oslo	Norway	Sentrum Scene
21 November 2022	Stockholm	Sweden	Berns
22 November 2022
North America[46]
6 February 2023	Nashville	United States	Ryman Auditorium	Slayyyter
8 February 2023	Richmond		The National
9 February 2023	Philadelphia		The Fillmore Philadelphia
10 February 2023	Maspeth		Knockdown Center
13 February 2023	Montréal	Canada	MTELUS
14 February 2023	Toronto		HISTORY
15 February 2023	Royal Oak	United States	Royal Oak Music Theatre
17 February 2023	Chicago		TBA Chicago
18 February 2023	Saint Paul		Palace Theatre
20 February 2023	Denver		Ogden Theatre
21 February 2023	Salt Lake City		The Depot
23 February 2023	Seattle		Paramount Theatre
24 February 2023	Vancouver	Canada	Commodore Ballroom
25 February 2023	Portland	United States	Roseland Theater
27 February 2023	Oakland		Fox Theater
1 March 2023	San Diego		SOMA
2 March 2023	Los Angeles		The Wiltern

List of cancelled tour dates

List of cancelled concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, and reason

Date	City	Country	Venue	Reason
8 November 2022	Brussels	Belgium	La Madeleine	Food poisoning[47][48]
9 November 2022	Cologne	Germany	Live Music Hall

Notes

References

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